A Light Needs Darkness to Shine
by rainbowycupcake
Summary: A shoulder to lean on, a silly joke to laugh about, a friend who understands. Life with mental illness isn't easy and when the going get's rough, it's the little things that keep you going. Because for every storm, there is a rainbow, if you just look hard enough. Kinda AU. Written for Poirot Cafe's themed contest.


Disclaimer: Neither DC nor MK belong to me. If they did, there would be a lot more angst.

Written for Poirot Cafe's themed writing competition.  
Theme: "Help"  
Rated T because I'm paranoid.

**A Light Needs Darkness to Shine**

"_The tiny seed knew that in order to grow, it needed to be dropped in dirt, covered in darkness, struggle to reach the light." - Sandra Kring_

Shinichi stares at the figure in white, that is perched on the book shelf, and wonders if he made the right decision by coming here. Yet he can't help but feel intrigued when the stranger jumps down and dashes over to him.

"What is that? A new face in our little house of madness . Here, take this. A perfect match for a handsome guy like you" the person says with a delighted, almost manic, smile and takes his hand, sliding a ring over his finger.

The ring is too small and get's stuck halfway through, but he doesn't mind. He's busy scanning the other person's face – or at least the parts of it that he can actually see.

Judging from the face and the voice it has to be someone his age, in other words: a patient … not that he would have thought anything else, seeing that he was in a mental hospital and the guy in front of him had been running around, tailed by nurses and a girl with a mop, stealing things out of people's pockets as he went along, for the last ten minutes.

"Kuroba Kaito! I know you're in there somewhere!" one of the nurses, a woman with short, black hair, yells and something flickers across the boy's face. His smile dissolves and he sighs, taking off the hat and monocle. Shinichi stares at him, thinking that he might as well be looking into a mirror. Their resemblance is uncanny.

"I'm sorry?" the boy calls out to no one in particular, though it sounds more like a question. Then he frowns at Shinichi.

"You're the new guy, right? Don't think I've seen you around before. Hey, is that Nurse Sato's ring on your finger?"

Shinichi blinks. Once, twice. "You put it there." he answers. His mind is already working on multiple possible diagnoses for the other teenager.  
"I did? Oh … well, I don't remember, so it must have been Kid," the boy pauses, before adding "my second personality", sounding a bit apprehensive, as if afraid of Shinichi's reaction. Then he smiles happily, all traces of uneasiness gone, and holds out a hand. "Kuroba Kaito and Kaitou Kid. Resident magician and phantom thief, respectively. Nice to meet you."

"Kudo Shinichi, detective. Nice to meet you too." Shinichi replies and they shake hands. He notices that the ring has vanished from his finger and wonders when the self-proclaimed thief took it.

However, he doesn't get to ask, because the nurse with short hair stomps over to them, looking quite annoyed.  
"My ring, Kaito-kun. Now." she glares at the teenager, who hands over the jewelry with a sheepish smile and an apology.  
The nurse shakes her head. "It's fine. Give back the other stuff too, please. And then you have an appointment with Doctor Furuya. Don't skip it." she sighs the last three words in a manner that suggests, that Kaito has been doing that a lot.

"Yes, m'am." Kaito salutes, winks at Shinichi and strolls over to the table, returning a watch to a disgruntled looking, blond teenager.

The nurse turns her attention to Shinichi and smiles at him. "Hey there. I'm Nurse Sato. Or Miwako, if you want. Are you settled in already?"  
He nods, then looks over his shoulder at the unnerving sensation of someone staring at him. All he sees is the door that leads back to the outside, so he turns his head back.  
"Well, if you need anything, I'm over there, reading with the little kid." She indicates a young boy sitting in the corner with a nod of her head, and, after seeing Shinichi's affirmative nod, turns around and walks over to the kid.

Shinichi sighs and looks around, absorbing as many details about the room and the people in it as he can, before turning around and going back to his room.  
He closes the curtains and checks the room for anything suspicious, then sits down on his bed and blankly stares at the wall, his mind drifting off to old cases.

He's just reminiscing about the murder that happened on a roller coaster when a soft tap on the window breaks him out of his thoughts.  
Instantly alert, he slowly walks over and peers through a slit in the curtains, to find the resident magician perched on the windowsill.

Said magician knocks at the window again and mouths "Let me in, please." The sound of his voice is muffled by the glass between them, but Shinichi understands enough. He remembers his earlier inspection of the window and shakes his head, telling the other boy that it's locked. Kaito just grins at him and replies with a shake of his head.  
The detective frowns and looks at the other teenager, who mouths "It's open."

Indeed, the window slides open without problems and Kaito hops in. "See, I told you. I picked the lock earlier." he smirks proudly.  
"But, when I … when did you...?" Shinichi utters confused. He checked everything right before he unpacked his stuff and then he had been either in his room or near the door the whole time. If Kaito had gone into his room, he would have noticed for sure.

Kaito just winks at him, sits down on the second bed uninvited and avoids an answer by stating "So, you share a room with dear Hakuba-kun. That must be boring."  
"I haven't met my roommate yet."  
"Ah, Hakuba Saguru. He's the blond guy who sat at the table earlier. You remember him?"  
"You stole his watch."  
"Kid stole it. And I always give back what he takes." Kaito clarifies.

Shinichi doesn't really know how to respond to that, so he nods and sits down on his own bed, facing his surprise visitor.  
"Why is he here?" he asks curiously.  
Kaito points behind him with his thumb, drawling "Just look at that. What do you think?"

The detective doesn't need to look, he's already seen the wall littered with posters and pictures of clocks. "He's either obsessed with clocks or time." he guesses.  
"Bingo! Both, kinda, but more time itself. And some other stuff."  
"So, he has a obsessive-compulsive disorder?"  
"Obsessive-compulsive _personality_ disorder," Kaito clarifies, "but that's the fancy way to put it."

Silence settles over them while Kaito stares at Shinichi, as if he's trying to solve a particularly difficult puzzle. The staring unnerves the detective and he shifts uncomfortably under the unwavering gaze.  
Finally, when he can't take it anymore, he bursts out "What is it? Stop staring at me!"

Kaito raises both hands in a calming gesture. "Woah, sorry. Didn't know it would tick you off like that. I was just trying to guess why you're here."  
He sounds genuinely sorry and Shinichi tries to shake off the thought that the magician was purposely trying to unsettle him.

"Soooo...why are you here?" Kaito asks and pulls three small balls out of his pocket, absently juggling them, his eyes never straying from the detective's face.

Shinichi shifts again, reluctant to talk about the matter. He still hasn't completely come to terms with it himself, and now he's supposed to share it with a complete stranger? A stranger who could do god-knows-what with this kind of information.

In a rare fit of seriousness, Kaito drops the balls and says "Don't worry. I'm not going to judge you, you know. Neither will anyone else here. We all have our problems and reasons for being here. I won't make fun of you either, if that's what you're afraid of."

Then he continues juggling, an almost lunatic grin plastered over his face as if he's trying to compensate for his serious words.

"That's not... " Shinichi trails off, slightly irritated by the balls that are continuously flying through the air. Then he sighs. He's here to get better, right? And talking about stuff is supposed to help.

"My parents think that I've seen a few murders too many and developed an unhealthy case of paranoia."  
"Your parents, eh? And what do you think?"  
"I don't know."

The lunatic grin is gone, and instead Kaito looks at the other teen with a serious expression.  
"Don't give me that crap. You know what you think, you just don't want to face it."

They sit in silence for a few minutes, Kaito is juggling behind his back – with four balls now – and Shinichi watches him, silently wondering where he got the fourth ball from.

"I think they might be right." Shinichi eventually admits, letting out a defeated sigh. Saying it out loud feels good, he thinks, yet at the same time somehow makes it more real, pressuring him to deal with it.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it now?"

* * *

"Kaito-kun."  
The teenager crosses his arms in front of his chest in a defiant stance.  
"No. Absolutely no way."  
"You said, you wanted to get over your fear."  
"Yes, but not like this! It's cruel! Can't we start with … I don't know, pictures or something?"  
"We've been doing pictures for a while now, and you know that. It's time for the next step."  
"No. I can't do this! I won't!" Kaito declares in a rebellious tone that matches his posture.  
"Just for one second. Not more. I promise, you're going to be fine."  
"No. I'm leaving. Don't bring one of those … _monsters_ here ever again!"

The outraged teenager stomps out of the office, closing the door behind him with more force than necessary. Doctor Furuya sighs and throws a look at his desk, where the innocent goldfish is happily swimming around in his small bowl, oblivious to all the distress it has caused.

* * *

"Ow, Aoko … Stop it! Stop! AHOKO!"

Nurse Takagi rushes over, alerted by the screaming and yelling, to find a very familiar situation.

"Aoko-san, please stop."

The girl huffs in annoyance, but sets down the mop and resorts to angry glaring. Kaito rubs his head and throws the nurse a thankful glance.  
"He flipped my skirt and looked at my panties. Again!" she complains, pointing accusingly at the magician.

Takagi sighs, feebly shaking his head. "Kaito-kun. You know the rules. Go to your room." He refrains from adding "And don't do it again" because he knows it would be futile. The boy sticks his tongue out at Aoko and casually strolls away. "BAKAITO!" she yells after him.

"And you! I know Kaito-kun can be irritating, but that's no reason to attack him with a mop. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, yes." she mumbles, suddenly a bit embarrassed, now that the heat of the moment has dissolved.

* * *

"Hey, Kudo!" the dark-skinned teenager calls and flops down at the seat next to his fellow detective.  
"Hattori." Shinichi greets him. "Heard you're getting out today."  
"Yep." Heiji grins. "My parents are here, signin' th' discharge papers right now. My stuff's all packed 'n I'm good to go. How was yer therapy session?"  
"It was okay, I guess. What are you going to do now, back to solving murders?"

"O' course, what else?"  
"Yeah, what else." Shinichi mutters. He would never admit it, but he's envying Heiji. What he wouldn't give to solve a challenging case right now.  
"Ah, don't ya dare look so grumpy. Ya going to be out o' here in no time and th'n we'll see who's da better detective!"

Shinichi barely resists the urge to roll his eyes.

* * *

"You're two minutes, 50 seconds and four deciseconds late, Kuroba."  
"And you're not supposed to count the milliseconds, Hakuba."  
"Quiet, both of you, and eat your dinner." Nurse Miyamoto interrupts, before Saguru can retort back.

A few minutes pass in silence as everyone is busy eating, the only sounds heard are the clattering of cutlery and a few quiet sighs.  
When he's finished, Shinich turns to the side, looking at the girl seated next to him. Feeling his gaze, she looks up from her plate and meets his eyes.  
"Miyano Shiho, right?"

She nods curtly and turns her attention back to her meal. Shinichi looks at her for another moment, wondering about the mysterious girl. He's been here for two weeks now and in that time, he hasn't heard her speak one word. Then again, he spends most of his time in his room, where he feels safe, so he hasn't talked much to anyone. Expect Kaito that is, and that's mainly because the magician has made it a habit to drop by his room unannounced whenever he feels like it.

He mentally notes to question Kaito about the redhead.

* * *

"Akako-san's is black. Kazuha-chan wears blue and Aoko chose pink today. Ran-chan likes red!" Kaito calls as he's running past the detective.  
Shinichi shakes his head in amusement as the four girls chase after the magician.  
"You stand no chance, Kuroba-kun! You can't win against my spells!"

Right, Akako suffers from psychosis and thinks she's a witch. It had taken a few minutes for Shinichi to wrap his head around that one. He doesn't believe in magic or anything the like, but he still tries to stay on the girl's good side … you never know, after all. And it's better to be safe than sorry.

* * *

"Conan-kun and Ai-chan seem to get along well, don't they? Ah, young love." Kaito sighs theatrically, a hand placed over his heart in dramatic fashion.  
"Idiot. They're way too young for anything like that." Aoko comments from where she's sitting a few seats away. For some reason, they all found themselves gathered around the dining table on a Wednesday afternoon.  
"I know that, Ahoko. Don't take everything so seriously."  
"Hey hey, no mop chases today, please." Ran intervenes before things can get out of hand.

Aoko grumbles something unintelligible while Kaito jumps up from his seat, climbs over the table and takes Ran's hand, placing a gentleman-like kiss on it.  
"Thank you, for saving me. I owe you my life." he says with absolute sincerity, causing a pink blush to spread across the girl's face.  
Shinichi simply rolls his eyes at the magician's antics, then frowns when he notices that, beneath the initial amusement, Ran still looks rather downcast. That's when he remembers.

"Hey, Ran. Your parents were here today, right? How did it go?"  
It's not hard to figure out that her family therapy session didn't go too well, but over the last weeks he learned, that talking does in fact help. He also discovered that Ran tends to hold back her feelings.  
The girl sighs and glances at her fellow patients, who are all looking at her expectantly.  
"Not good. They started to fight with each other just two minutes in. And in the end, my dad even said that he's going to sign the divorce papers."

At this point, she can't hold back her sobs anymore, as she recalls the moment when her hopes of her parents getting back together were permanently shattered.  
Kazuha, who is seated next to Ran, instantly leans over and pulls the crying girl into a comforting hug. "Ssssch, it's okay. We're here for ya."

Kaito, who is sitting on the table, leans forward and awkwardly pats Ran on the shoulder. "Yeah, we're all in this together."  
The girl lets out a strangled sound, something between a sob and a laugh.  
"You're awful at this, Kaito." Aoko remarks as she walks over, wrapping her arms around Ran.  
The magician huffs in annoyance and pulls back, before dryly stating "Aoko, there's something under your shirt."

"What?" the girl replies, confused at first. But then she feels something _moving _and, looking down, she can see a huge bulge. In her panic she doesn't even realize that the thing feels feathery.

After a minute of jumping around in panic and clawing at her shirt, the thing finally comes out.

A white dove frantically flutters around her head.

"BAKAITO!"

As Kaito runs away, dodging the evil mop of doom, he can't help but smile. After all, his distraction worked perfectly, he muses and throws a look back at the laughing Ran.

* * *

Kaito flops down on Saguru's empty bed and Shinichi sets the book he's reading aside, raising his eyebrows at his friend.  
"Skipping therapy again? You know, you'll never make any progress if you keep doing that."  
The magician absentmindedly flicks his wrist and fiddles with the white rose that appears out of nowhere.

"He wanted to talk about the night my father died."

Shinichi throws him a sympathetic look and sighs. "I know that must be hard, but-"

"No, you don't … you don't understand! I was there when it happened, I saw _everything_!" Kaito interrupts him and jumps off the bed, pacing back and forth. "You think you're used to death, because you're a detective and all," he stops and turns to stare at Shinichi, "but you're not! All you ever see is dead bodies. Whatever happened to them, you don't have to witness. You have no idea what it's like to see...to see how... and to know that you couldn't to anything. That you didn't to anything..." he trails off and slumps down with his back to the wall.

Shinichi frowns at the uncharacteristic outburst and sits down besides the other teen, putting one arm around his shoulders in a comforting gesture.

"You're wrong. I mean, yeah, I mostly solve cases where the victim is already dead. But I've seen people die and you have no idea how often I blamed myself for not being able to save them. I know, that's still not the same, but I can relate to some degree. And you have to deal with it eventually, it won't go away just because you ignore it. You know that as well as I do."

Kaito frantically shakes his head. "I don't want to … it hurts so bad, I can't … I just can't..." the rest of his sentence slips away when, for the first time in nine years, Kaito can't hold back the tears and sobs.

* * *

"What's Akako-san doing?"  
"I don't know."  
"It looks weird."  
"I bet she's trying one of her 'spells' again."

"I can't fathom how someone could possibly think, that they are a witch." The dryly spoken comment instantly steals the attention away from the self-proclaimed witch.

The assembled teens collectively turn to stare in shock at the redhead.  
"She's talking! Miracles _do_ happen!" Kaito calls and claps his hands in delight.

He gets shoved to the side by the girls, who are chattering excitedly and crowding around the poor girl, and an elbow jabs him painfully in the ribs.

"Ouch! That hurt!"

"Don't be such a whiny donkey, bakaito." Aoko snaps. A few seconds later she shrieks when a glass of cold water is emptied over her head. And the two are off in their customary mop chase.

Ran shakes her head in amusement. "Those two … but that's really great, Shiho-san. And you have such a nice voice!"  
"Thanks." the redhead replies coolly, though she seems a bit overwhelmed by all the attention.

Shinichi distances himself from the chattering crowd and sits down at the table, where Saguru joins him just a moment later.  
"It's nice to see how everyone's is making progress, isn't it?" the blond detectives remarks with a thoughtful expression.  
"It is. How is it going for you? I noticed you've been less fixated on the time lately."  
"I'm making good progress. My therapist is positive that I'm going to be released in a few weeks tops."  
"That's good to hear." Shinichi replies and smiles at the blond.

They sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, occasionally catching bits of the girls' conversation. A question asked by Kazuha catches the attention of the detectives.

"So, how come yer talking now, Shiho-san? Ya don' have ta tell us, if ya don' want to, but I think we're all curious."

The boys look over to see Shiho looking at the other girls with a contemplative face.

"I'm … not sure. But seeing how you all stuck together helped … I think." she answers hesitantly.

* * *

"You look annoyed. What's bothering my favorite detective?"

Shinichi rolls his eyes and sighs.

"It's Conan-kun. Don't get me wrong, he's a nice kid, most of the time. But they changed his medication and the new pills aren't working like they should."  
Kaito snickers. "Aw, you should be flattered that he wants to be just like you! You're his idol."  
"Idiot! He has a serious problem, and I'm not sure that my being here is helping."

"Yeah, yeah. Loosen up a bit. I'm going to sneak out tonight, fancy joining me?"

The detective skeptically looks at the magician. "I wouldn't mind a change of scenery for a few hours. But what if we get caught?"

Kaito lets out a weird mix between a snort and a laugh. "Do you know who you're talking to? We won't get caught." he states with absolute certainty. And upon remembering all the past shenanigans the thief-magician has managed to pull of, Shinichi believes him.

"Fine, then. I'll come with you."

"Great. It's a date then. I have to prepare a few things, see you after dinner!" Kaito grins widely and disappears in a puff of pink smoke.

* * *

Kaito holds a finger to his lips, signaling his companion to be quiet, and peers around the corner.

When he sees who's walking the halls in the middle of the night – besides the two teenagers, that is – he draws back, looking a bit worried. Which in turn worries Shinichi to no end. Kaito is _never_ worried about anything.

"Who is it?" he whispers, barely loud enough for the magician to understand him.

"Gin." Kaito whispers back, earning him a confused look. "No idea what his real name is. We call him Gin because he sneaks a few bottles of it in every week. He's a complete psycho." he explains and frowns. "Come to think of it, last I heard he was in the closed ward. Wonder if he broke out?"

"That's not very reassuring."  
Kaito looks at his friend with concern, seeing that the situation is stressing him out. His paranoia must be having a field day right now. Then he peers around the corner again … and jumps back, letting out a strangled yelp.

Shinichi watches in horror as the man steps around the corner and grabs Kaito by the collar, throwing him against the wall with an audible thump.  
"Look what we've got here. Two little boys on a midnight stroll, eh? What do I do with you?"

The detective is about to tackle the older man, when blue smoke engulfs them. Coughing, he stumbles forward, blindly swinging his arms around. His hand hits something soft.  
"Ow! What was that for?"  
"Kaito?"  
"Who else?"  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to hit you."

Slowly, the smoke clears and Shinichi stares at the man with long, blond hair, who is passed out on the ground. "What did you do to him?" he asks, a hint of worry in his voice.  
"Just a small dose of sleeping gas," the magician replies unfazed, "but we better go now, the night patrol comes this way soon."

"Sometimes I wonder about you..." Shinichi mutters.

* * *

"Did you hear? Someone knocked out crazy Gin last night."  
"No way!"  
"Really?"  
"Do they know who did it?"

Shinichi throws a glance at Kaito and grins. The magician's red face is screwed up in concentration, in a desperate effort to hold back his laughter.

* * *

"Ran? Are you okay?"  
Shinichi sits down at the table, in the seat next to hers. She shakes her head.  
"What's wrong?"

The girl lets out a heavy sigh.  
"Kazuha-chan is gone. And, I don't know …" she trails off.  
"You miss her, huh?"

"More than I should. I thought I was getting better, but now that she's out, I just feel like … I don't know. What if I never see her again?"  
The first tears are rolling down her face and Shinichi pulls her closer, enveloping her in a hug.  
"It's okay. You are better! And she promised to visit, right?" Ran nods her head against his chest.  
"See? And when you're out of here, the two of you will stay in contact. You don't live that far apart, you can visit each other and talk on the phone."

"But w-what if-"

"No what ifs. That's exactly what's going to happen. She didn't abandon you."  
Ran raises her head and looks at him, with red eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "How did you know...?"

"I'm a detective." he grins and she playfully smacks him on the head, half laughing, half crying.

* * *

The teens all sit together, crowded around the television. The news of a mysterious phantom thief, dressed in a white suit, have spread like a wildfire. As the news reporter retells the story of the 'enigmatic' and 'intriguing' heist, everyone turns to stare at Kaito.  
He raises his hands defensively. "It wasn't me!"

Later, when everyone is going about their own business, the two male look-alikes find themselves alone in Kaito's room. The detective is leaning against the dresser, scrutinizing his friend.  
"How on earth did you pull that off?"  
"I already told you, I'm innocent. Stop pestering me."  
"Come on, I'm not stupid. So, it wasn't you, fine. How did _Kid_ pull it off?"  
Kaito glares at him in irritation. "How would I know? You know that I never remember the stuff he does."

Shinichi stays silent for a minute, before admitting "Yeah. You're right and I'm sorry. But you're so on edge today, what's going on?"

Another minute passes in silence, during which Kaito nervously fiddles around with the hem of his hoodie and avoids Shinichi's inquisitive stare. Then he stops and sighs.  
"They told me today that I can't stay here much longer. And I'm scared. … That's stupid, right? I should be happy, to go back home and everything," he pauses, absently making a coin appear and disappear in his hand, "It's just, what is there to come back to? Everyone thinks I'm the biggest freak on earth. And maybe they're right. … My mom is almost never home. She hasn't visited me _once_." His lips twist into a bitter smile.

He tosses the coin. "Heads. Guess that decides it."  
"Decides what? Kaito … what are you planning?" Shinichi asks warily, wondering if his impending release is putting the magician under more stress than he can handle.

"You'll see," Kaito answers cryptically, "and thanks."

"Thanks for what?"

The magician offers him a genuinely happy smile. "For being my friend."

* * *

"This is absolutely crazy. Insane." Shinichi shakes his head and brushes a bit of confetti from his shoulder . Standing next to him, Ran is almost choking on her attempt to control her giggle fit. The whole ward has been transformed into … the landscape of Kaito's cracked mind. Where he even got all those props is a mystery of its own.

The dining table has been covered with a pink table cloth, that looks suspiciously like cotton candy and the chairs have vanished. Instead, brightly colored swiss balls are placed around the table.

One half of the room's floor is covered in white cotton wool, while the other half tries to resemble a beach, complete with sand, a palm tree that's brushing the ceiling and a small wading pool. On the walls, weird decorations have been hung up (including giant lollipops and bonbons) and the whole place is littered with traps, as Saguru could testify to. He doesn't seem very happy with his green hair.

Shiho steps closer, coming to stand on Shinichi's other side. "Did you expect anything else from _him_, Kudo-kun?"

"No, not really." the detective sighs and warily sits down at the table, wobbling around for a second on the unsteady seat, half-expecting to trigger some kind of trap with the action. To his surprise, nothing happens, encouraging the other teens and children so take their places as well. Only one is missing.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!" Kaito's voice fills the room, undoubtedly assisted by speakers.  
"Thank you all for attending my little goodbye-party and I expect you to have the time of your life tonight!"

A clap and six differently colored smoke bombs go off at once, melting together into one giant cloud of smoke that showcases the full spectrum of a rainbow.

It takes a full three minutes for the smoke to clear and when it does, everyone is sporting silly party hats and Kaito stands on the table, grinning widely. He greets his guests with a sweeping bow. "Glad you could all make it. I hope you enjoy yourselves on this lovely evening."  
Then he jumps down, takes the last unoccupied seat and claps his hands again, making a monstrous cake appear on the table.  
"This might be the best cake you have ever had. Don't say I didn't warn you."  
Needless to say that it didn't take very long before crumbling pieces of cake were flying through the air.

Everyone passing the ward could hear the cheerful laughter of the children inside, proving that, despite their individual struggles, they could still be happy and enjoy life.


End file.
